Lamp shade



Oct. 3, 1933.

o. w. JOHNSON El AL LAMP SHADE Filed May 22, 1933 FJI'LM.

Patented Oct. 3, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,929,315 v LAMP snapsApplication May 22, 1933. Serial No. 672,299 9 Claims. (01. 240-108)This invention relates in general to-lamp shades and has for its objectthe provision of a strong, durable and ornamental shade which may beeasily and inexpensively produced.

In the past, pleated lamp shades have been made of a variety ofdifferent materials such as cloth, paper, parchment, etc.- When theseshades have been made of cloth, it has been necessary to provide a wireor other supporting frame upon which the cloth is mounted or over whichit is stretched. In providing such a frame it is necessary that there bea supporting wire or ring at the lower edge .of the frame and at theupper edge of the frame and that these rings be connected by ribs orother connecting members extending upwardly and downwardly between them.It has been the experience in the past that such ribs will show throughthe, translucent or transparent elements or layers forming the shadeprop-' er and will thus tend to spoil the general ornamental effect whena light is placed within the shade. When such shades have been made ofpaper they have been made with the top and bottom support such as abovementioned and have been provided either with or without the up and downribs depending upon the thickness of the paper, parchment or othermaterial of which the shade is made. In such cases, however, thoseshades have been made of smooth sheets of paper, parchment or othermaterial because it has been found to be impracticable to secure sheetsformed with ornamental pleats to the upper and lower ring supportswithout detracting from the appearance of the upper and lower edges ofthe pleated shade. Such pleated shades have ordinarily beenmade with awire frame inside consisting of the same upper and lower rings as usedin connection with cloth frames and with the up and down ribs forsupporting the lower ring from the upper. The pleated sheet is thenmerely secured to the frame adjacent the upper ring and is held in placeagainst the lower ring. However,

as in the case of cloth shades, and even to agreater extent, these upand down ribs as well as the supporting rings become clearly apparentwhen a light is placed within the shade and are for that reason veryundesirable. Moreover, in shades constructed in this manner, there isconsiderable likelihood of a light accidental blow bending and crackingthe ornamental pleated surface of the shade because it is not supportedexcept at its extremities.

In view of the above, it is an object of this invention to provide ashade of paper, parch ment, or the like with a pleated outer surface andall intermediate portions of the outer layer.

to provide a support for the pleated outer layer which support shall actto reinforce substantially is a further object to so support the pleatedouter layer that each pleat shall be fixedly posiso tioned and shall notbe shiftable from one position to the other by merely pushing orbrushing against some particular part of the shade.

Furthermore, it is an object of this invention to provide a support forapleated shade which 5 support will not be so apparent as to detractfrom the ornamental appearance of the shade when a light is placedwithin the shade. It is also contemplated that the upper and lower edgesof the pleated shade shall not be changed in any way 79 which mightimpair the ornamental appearance of the shade or will show the nature ofthe support therefor.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent fromthe following descrip- 7 tion taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it being clearly understood that the same are by way ofillustration and example only and are not to be taken as in any waylimiting the spirit or scope of this invention. The spirit and so scopeof'this invention is to be limited only by the prior art taken inconnection with the accompanying claims.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing in which like numeralsindicate corresponding parts throughout:

Figure 1 is a view partly in section and with parts broken awayillustrating one embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a partial horizontal sectional view of the shade illustratedin Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the same structure.

In accordance with this invention, a pleated shade 1 is provided and isformed of any suitable material preferably such as parchment, paper orthe like, the same being folded with inner bends 2 and outer bends 3 soas to form a series of pleats therein. These pleats as will be seen fromFigure 1, taper from one end to the other and are wider adjacent thebottom than adjacent the top. Also, it is noted that the pleats are openadjacent the bottom as illustrated in Figure 2 but are gradually closedas they approach the top as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 until whenthey reach the top they will lie closely adjacent each other as shown at4 in Figure-3.

For the purpose of supporting the pleated shade just described, there isprovided an inner smooth layer 5 which may be of material of somewhatthe no same nature as that of the shade 1. This material, however, asstated is smooth and is preferably of considerable strength so as tofurnish adequate support for the pleated outer layer of the shade. Thissmooth inner layer 5 as illustrated in Figure lisformedwithafrustro-conoidal shape similar to that of the flanged pleatedshade 1 so that it may be placed within the pleated shade and contactwith each of the inner bends 2 of the pleated shade substantiallythroughout their length. The pleated shade 1, however, can be the sameor slightly longer than the smooth shade or layer 5 so that when thesupporting layer 5 is placed within the pleated shade the supportinglayer will be entirely concealed from view by the pleated shade.Although both layers are illustrated as being frustro-conoidal in shape,it is to be underst'oodthat they may be made in other shapes as founddesirable without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

For the purpose of reinforcing the lower edge of the smooth supportinglayer 5, there is a ring 6 of such a size as to just fit within thelower edge of this supporting layer and be secured thereto by means of asection of tape '7. This tape '7 as will be seen in Figure 3 is securedto the outer surface of the layer 5 and extends downwardly past the edgethereof and inwardly around the reinforcing ring or element 6. This ring6 thus serves to maintain the proper shape of the lower edge of thesupporting element 5 and hence of the lower edge of the pleated shade 1.

At the upper edge of the supporting element 5 there is provided asuspension member consisting of a ring 8 similar in all respects to thering 6 with the exception that it is of the size and shape of the top ofthe shade instead of the bottom. The supporting element 5 is secured tothe ring 8 by means of tape 7 in a manner similar to that set forth inconnection with the ring 6. Secured to the lower side of the ring 8 atspaced points about its circumference and extending radially inwardlytherefrom there are provided a plurality of arms 9 which may be formedof any suitable material such as a light wire for instance.- Centrallylocated with respect to the upper end of the shade there is a securingmember 10 in the form of a ring threaded internally as at 11 for thepurpose of threadedly engaging prepared standard threads on the ordinarylamp socket. This securing member is formed on its lower side with anannular channel portion 12 extending between radial channel portions 13,the latter serving to receive the inner ends of the respective arms 9.If desired, two of the arms 9 may be made integral with each other andconnected at their inner ends through the annular channel 12 extendingbetween the radial channels 13. The supporting ring 10 is shown by wayof illustration only, it being understood that a different form ofsecuring member may be provided where the position of the shade makes itdesirable.

The pleated shade 1 is placed over the outside of the smooth supportinglayer 5 after the same has been mounted as above set forth upon the.lower reinforcing ring 6 and the upper extension in which thepleated-shade is supportd at practically every point of its extent andat the same time is allowed to retain its ornamental appearance withoutany interference from the supporting parts.

For the purpose of holding the upper portion of the pleated shade inclose contact with the smooth supporting layer 5 and also for adding tothe ornamental appearance of the entire shade, there is provided a cord15 having alternate stretches of its length extending through spacedribs of the pleats and arranged on the outer periphery of the pleatedshade. This cord or tie member 15 is tied as at 1'7 in the form of a bowknot and is provided at its ends with tassels 18 or other similarornamentation.

It is noteworthy that if so desired a suitable design 19 might be madeor otherwise placed upon the smooth supporting layer 5 so that it wouldshow through the pleated shade 1 without any distortion when a light isplaced within the shade.

It will readily be seen from the above that there has been provided ashade having the ornamental appearance of a pleated shade of parchmentpaper or the like, but which has not however any of the inherent defectspreviously present in this type of shade. For instance, the shade issupported substantially throughout its under surface by means of thesupporting layer 5 and is thus prevented from having one or more of itsribs crushed by a slight push or other contact from some foreign body.This supporting layer 5 is further strengthened by the reinforcingmemher 6 at the bottom and by the supporting ring 8 at the top so as toform a very rigid structure without the necessity of up and down ribspreviously used in connection with this type of shade. The entiresupporting structure is of such a size and so positioned as to beentirely within the pleated shade l and so as not to spoil its effect.Means has likewise been provided for holding the upper portion of thepleated shade in contact with the upper portion of the supportingstructure, this means adding to rather than detracting from theornamental appearance of the shade. At the same time, a structure hasbeen provided whereby a design may be formed between the two layers ofthe shade where it will be protected, and where it will also lie on asmooth surface so as not to be distorted because of the uneven contourof the outer surface of the shade.

It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may bemade in the materials and arrangement of parts of the embodiment hereinset forth without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas set forth in the appended claims.

What we claim is: g

1. A shade comprising an inner frustro-conoidal hollow translucentsupporting element and an outer frustro-conoidal hollow translucentshade element, said outer element being formedwith overlapping pleatsthroughout extending from the lower to the upper end thereof andgradually increasing in width towards the lower end of such outerelement, means interposed between said elements for securing the innerbends of the pleats to the outer face of the supporting elementsubstantially throughout the length of each pleat, a reinforcing memberfor the lower edge of said shade,means for connecting the lower end ofthe inner element to said member, a suspension member, and. means forsecuring the upper end of the inner element to said suspension member,said inner supporting element having an ornamental design on its outersurface between said two elements whereby when a light is placed withinthe shade said design will be visible without substantial distortionthrough said pleated element.

2. A shade comprising an irmer frustroconoidal hollow translucentsupporting element and an outer frustro-conoidal hollow translucentshade element, said outer element being formed with overlapping pleatsthroughout extending from the lower to the upper end thereof andgradually increasing in width towards the lower end of such outerelement, means interposed between said elements for securing the innerbends of the pleats to the outer face of the supporting elementsubstantially throughout the length of each pleat, a reinforcing memberfor the lower edge of said shade, means for connecting the lower end ofthe inner element to said member, a suspension member, means forsecuring the upper end of the inner element to said suspension member,and a tie member having alternate stretches of its length extendingthrough spaced groups of pleats and arranged on the periphery of saidouter element, said tie member adapted to have its ends detachablyconnected together for maintaining it in encompassed relation withrespect to said elements.

3. A shade comprising an inner frustroconoidal hollow translucentsupporting element and an outer frustro-conoidal hollow translucentshade element, said outer element being formed with overlapping pleatsthroughout extending from the lower to the upper end thereof andgradually increasing in width towards the lower end of such outerelement, means interposed between said elements for securing the innerbends of the pleats to the outer face of the supporting elementsubstantially throughout the length of each pleat, a reinforcing memberfor the lower edge of said shade, means for connecting the lower end ofthe inner element to said member, a suspension member, and means forsecuring the upper end of the inner element to said suspension member.

4. A shade comprising an inner frustroconoidal hollow translucentsupporting element and an outer frustro-conoidal hollow translucentshade element, said outer element being formed with overlapping pleatsthroughout extending from the lower to the upper end thereof andgradually increasing in width towards the lower end of such outerelement, and means interposed between said elements for securing theinner bends of the'pleats to the outer face of the supporting elementsubstantially throughout the length of each pleat.

5. A lamp shade comprising an outer element pleated throughout and aninner-supporting element smooth throughout and being secured to theinner bends of the pleats of the outer element, the pleats of the outerelement having their upper and lower ends completely visible andextending beyond the ends of the supporting element, a reinforcingelement secured to the lower end of the supporting element and concealedby the lower ends of said pleats, a suspension member connected withthe'upper end of said supporting element and concealed by the upper endsof said pleats.

6. A lamp shade comprising an outer element pleated throughout and aninner supporting element smooth throughout and being secured to theinner bends of the pleats of the outer element, the pleats of the outerelement having their upper and lower ends completely visible andextending beyond the ends of the supporting element.

7. A shade comprising an inner hollow translucent supporting element andan outer hollow translucent shade element,, said outer element beingformed with overlapping pleats throughout extending from the lower tothe upper end thereof, and means interposed between said elements forsecuring the inner bends of the pleats to the outer face of thesupporting element substantially throughout the length of each pleat,said inner supporting element having an ornamental design on its outersurface between said two elements whereby when a light is placed withinthe shade said design will be visible without substantial distortionthrough said pleated element.

8. A shade comprising an inner hollow translucent supporting element andan outer hollow translucent shade element, said outer element beingformed with overlapping pleats throughout extending from the lower tothe upper end thereof, and means interposed between said elements forsecuring the inner bends of the pleats to the outer face of thesupporting element substantially throughout the length of each pleat.

9. In' a lamp shade, an upper support, a lower support, a layer ofsmooth relatively stiff translucent material carried by said supports, alayer of pleated relatively stiff translucent material surrounding andcarried by said first layer, and means securing said two layers togetheralong spaced lines extending from one of said supports to the other.

OSCAR WALTER JOHNSON. CARL HERMAN JOHNSON.

